Determination of Protection
by The Generic Ficer
Summary: After being disturbed by Romani's behaviour during the third day of the Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask, Link resolves that when he goes back in time, he will save her. Just how far will Link go to keep the resolve. Mild Link/Romani


Link has been challenged to a game of hide-and-seek by five members of the Bombers Secret Society of Justice. So far, Link has found four of the five kids he is meant to find, and is now looking for the fifth one. While he is wandering around North Clock town he spots the final bomber's shadow peeking out from behind a tree. "Gotcha" Link said when he caught up to him. "Aw, you finally found me" the Bomber said.

When they returned to East clock town, the leader, Jim, said "You did it. So what's your name guy?" "My name is Link" Link said. Jim replied with "Link huh?", then added "Alright! That Skull Kid broke our rules and he's been doing all kinds of bad things lately. Starting today, he's out. I'm making Link a bomber! You guys don't mind, right?" the other Bombers replied "Right" while doing a strange dance. Jim then went on with "This is the Bomber's Notebook. It contains the words we live by. Read it over" "Thanks" Link said. "Don't mention it" Jim replied, then added "Rules. Rule 1, Find troubled people and add their names and pictures. Only 20 people will fit in your book" Link nodded, and Jim continued. "Rule 2. Promise to help them. Mark promises with promise stickers. Never be late with fulfilling promises" "Alright" Link said. Jim then added "Rule 3. whenever you solve someone's problem, it makes you happy, so a happy sticker will be added to your book" Link nodded. "Rule 4. No Removing Stickers! Use promise stickers to keep track of people until everyone is happy" Jim said, before adding "Don't forget the rules!" "I won't" Link said. Jim replied with "Alright then. I'll teach you our secret code, Ready?" Link nodded. Each of the bombers turned around and the code was revealed to be 43125. "Alright. I will remember that" Link said, and he departed.

Although Link was able to help various people, he was disturbed by one particular girl he encountered at Romani ranch.

When Link arrived at Romani Ranch. It was the third day. He saw a mysterious girl sitting on a crate. She was shaking, had a strange look on her face, and seemed greatly traumatised by something. "Are you OK?" Link said, approaching her carefully. The girl muttered incoherently, before asking Link "Who... Who are you again?" Link found this creepy. He noted the girl in his book as "Farm-girl", he left.

After Link had reset time, and he had gotten another Powder Keg, he went over to Romani ranch to see if whatever had happened to that girl that left her so traumatised hadn't happened yet. He arrived on Milk Road he found his way blocked by a huge boulder, and a carpenter, who was trying to break the rock. He transformed into a Goron, and used a Powder Keg up against the rock. Both he and the carpenter trying to break the rock ran far enough away so they won't get hurt by the blast. When the rock exploded, he turns to the Carpenter, who said "...Hey, as long as it is open to traffic, it's fine" Link then proceeded into Romani ranch.

When he arrived, he saw the girl he had seen on the third day, before he reset time, running around the area. Tatl however, was looking at something else. "L-Look" Tatl said, and Link, hearing Tatl's voice, turned to face her."The traumatic event hasn't occurred yet" Link said, watching the girl. Tatl hit Link and said "Not the girl Link, isn't that your horse?" Link ran up to the pen and said "It is" He then walked over to the girl. She said "Hey, who are you? I'm Romani. I was given the same name as this ranch. What's your name?" Link replied with "I'm Link. Nice to meet you Romani" "Link? That's a nice name. But..." Romani said, then added "How about Grasshopper? That's the name Romani gives you" "_Grasshopper? Why would she call me Grasshopper?_" Link thought. Romani, almost as if she was reading his mind, said "See, you're wearing green clothes, and you patter about when you walk, just like a grasshopper. So grasshopper it is" Link then said "What were you doing?" Romani continued with "Romani was practising... For tonight... tonight... They are coming" Link wondered briefly if the "they" that Romani was talking about were related to the state Romani was in on the final day. He became attentive again when Romani continued with "They... They come at night... every year when the carnival approaches, they come riding in a bright, shining ball, a whole lot of them come down. And then... they come to the barn" Link reckoned that they steal the cows, and Romani continued with "my older sister won't believe me... But Romani must protect the cows" and then it clicked inside Link's head. The cows and Romani were taken, and Link shuddered to think what they did to her to leave her in the state he saw her in on the final day. Link was so caught up in these thoughts that he nearly missed what Romani said next. "Her grasshopper. I'm recruiting for an assistant right now. You have a bow, won't you try?" Link nodded, and said "Of course I will. If you saw what I saw, yes would be the only answer" Romani looked at Link questioningly and said "What do you mean?" Link quickly replied with "It's too hard to explain" Romani then said "Great! Now that's the spirit grasshopper. OK then, I'm going straight into my strategy" Link nodded, and focused on what Romani was going to say next. "They'll appear all over the ranch... they'll aim for that barn and approach it slowly, so hit them with arrows so they can't get in. You got that? And you must never leave the ranch" She then concluded with "Grasshopper! Let's practice right now. There are ten ghost-shaped balloons in the ranch, so hurry and burst them all. If you take over 2 minutes, you're out" "Alright" Link said. Romani said "The current record is 1 minutes, are you ready?" and Link nodded.

Link popped all 10 balloons in record time. "52.78, that's a new record" Romani said. She then added "You two work perfectly together. I'll teach Romani's horse-calling song to you grasshopper" She then sang Epona's song, and Link copied it on his Ocarina. :It is Epona's song. The song of two who are bound by trust" Romani said. She then added "When your arrow hits these, they will burst into nothing, but the real ones will keep popping up. If they get in the barn, we lose. The run away at first light of the sun, so we'll keep having to fend them off until then. Did you get all that?" Link nodded. Romani then said "The operation starts at two. I'll be waiting in the barn. Don't be late" Link, noting in his Bomber's notebook that he had taken on the job of night-time assistant, rode away on his horse.

While hunting down Zora's eggs in the pirate's fortress later that day Link found a hook-shot. Link has no idea just how important that hook-shot would be in completing this part of the Bomber's notebook.

Link arrived back at Romani's ranch, via the Song of Soaring, a bit before 2am. He found a crate on which he could stand on to give him a better view of the ranch. He decided, although he knew how insane he would make himself look if somebody saw, decided to make conversation with the moon, "Hey buddy how's it going?" Link said to the moon. No response. "What are you doing this fine night moon?" After a few moments, Link said "Oh you've been reading the chapter of the bible on the apocalypse, ah, OK!" and when the moon didn't respond, Link, getting annoyed, said "I'm just trying to make good conversation until it's 2am OK? Come on, there's nobody else to talk to" Link waited, having decided not to make conversation any-more with the moon, Link waited. He didn't have to wait long, however before Romani left the house. Walking up to Romani and tapping her in the shoulder, she turned around to face Link and said "It's almost time... You take care of things outside grasshopper. You have a map, watch your map carefully OK? Whatever happens, do not let them get into the barn. They'll be coming from behind the barn too so watch out. If you run out of arrows, we have crates of them near the house, so stock up when you need to" Romani then went inside the barn. Link thought of something. If "they" really were aliens, and this may be because Link has most likely one too many alien movies, but the aliens probably came from a UFO, which would have a tractor beam to beam up the cows, and Romani. So if the worst was to happen, he had a Hook-shot, and he knew the song to call Epona. So he would grab Romani and, using the Hook-shot, he would get away from the tractor beam. He would then use Epona's song to call Epona and race away with Romani, escaping from them until morning. Just as he concluded his plan, however, a red star appeared, flying around the ranch. The aliens started spawning, and Link knew what he had to do.

As Romani had predicted, the aliens immediately made for the barn. Link fired off his arrows one-by-one, and struck down the aliens. Initially it was easy, however after about half an hour, Link started noticing that a few of the aliens were going after the Arrow supplies, almost as if they knew he would be needing replenishments. He managed to keep the aliens away from the barn at the front, but they managed to partially breach out the back while Link was distracted trying to stop other aliens getting the arrows. Just as he shot another alien, he heard another noise. Turning around, he saw the aliens making off with a bunch of arrows and although Link was able to shoot them, he lost most of the arrows. Grabbing what he could, he went back to attacking the aliens.

After about an hour, however, Link ran out of arrows. "Oh No" Link said, and his alarm increased when one of the aliens breached the walls of the barn. He ran towards the barn, and managed, just, to get inside before the wall was broken down completely. A UFO then appeared, and Link only just managed to bet a firm grip on Romani before the tractor beam started beaming the Cows, and both Link and Romani, towards the UFO. "Link what are we going to do?" Romani said. "Don't worry" Link said, getting out his Hook-shot, he fired them at the door, and managed to get both of them away from the Tractor beam. "They stole most of the arrows, so I ran out" Link explained. He then used Epona's song to call Epona and, making sure that the UFO was still beaming up the cows, got both himself and Romani onto Epona, and rode off. While the UFO didn't chase them, the Red Star did.

"Where are we going?" Romani yelled at Link as they ran down Milk Road. "There's a group of young boys who have a hideout on the eastern side of Clock town" Link yelled back. The red star overtook them, and generated aliens in front of them. "Link look out" Romani yelled. Link pulled Epona up, stopping just before they crashed into the aliens. Walking back a bit, Link said to Epona "Alright girl, let's see what you've got" Epona cantered towards the aliens, Romani closed her eyes, ready for one or both of them to be thrown off, but it never came, and a about a half-mile farther along Link stopped Epona. "Are you OK Romani?" Link said, turning back to face her. Romani took several moments to stop shaking, and she said "Terrified" "Calm down, then hold me around the waist" Link said. "Alright" Romani said, and she gripped Link around the waist, and as she was shaking, she made both Link and Epona shake. "Calm Down Romani you're making me and Epona shake" Link said. Romani took a steadying breath and managed to mostly stop shaking. Link then called Epona to start running again, the star in hot pursuit, and now the UFO was catching up too.

Link had to defend both himself and Romani again at the foot of Milk Road. After taking the last alien down, Link said, pointing to Clock town, said "On the east side of there, that's where we are heading" Romani nodded, and Link, grabbing Romani's hand, pulled her towards Clock town.

When they arrived in South Clock town, they found that South Clock town is in chaos. The aliens were running around, presumable looking for Romani. When Link and Romani arrived, the aliens made an odd noise, and a familiar sound echoed. "Link, is that what I think it is?" Romani said. "Oh no, yes it is, the UFO" Link said. "RUN!" Link added, grabbing Romani's hand, tore towards East Clock town, and the Bomber's Secret Society of Justice. He only got about half-way before the UFO started beaming them up. "LINK! You're Hook-shot would come in handy right about now" Romani said. Link got out his Hookshot, and aimed at the nearest building. He fired, and managed to get them away from the beam. However, as they escaped, Link accidentally let go of Romani. She landed, but Link didn't know where, so initially, he thought Romani had been taken. "ROMANI NO!" Link yelled, but a shrill "Link I'm over here" told Link that Romani was still there. The tractor beam had sucked all the aliens up, and the UFO went higher into the sky, until it was almost out of sight. The red star then reappeared as Link pulled Romani from the wreckage of one of the stands. "Are you OK?" Link said and Romani replied "I think so" One of the guards then said "Get to wherever you need to go, I'll hold the aliens off, GO!" and he pulled Link and Romani to their feet, and pushed them towards East Clock town.

As they ran towards the Bomber's Secret Society of Justice's Hideout, Link checked his watch. "Half-past four, that's still an hour-and-a-half before sunrise" Link said exasperated. "If I can just get to the hideout, we should be OK" he added. Just as they arrive, the red star returned, spawning four more aliens. Link said to the guard "Let the girl in, she needs to be protected" and the guard nodded. Link struck down the four aliens, he saw the UFO for the third time. "Oh come on" he said, and, deciding to run for it, ran to the hideout, pulling the guard with him. "What's the situation" Jim said. "Hi, I'm Romani. I am the one you need to defend" Romani said. Jim then replied "Nice to meet you Romani" "OK. Here's the situation. There are aliens out there after Romani and I, and, although they are weak to arrows, I have no arrows" Jim nodded, and said "We have thousands of arrows, but no bows" "I have a bow" Romani said, getting her bow out. "Alright. How long do we need to hold out?" Jim said, and Link replied, after checking his watch "Another hour" "Alright. We need people at the observatory end, and at the entry end" and everyone nodded. "Let's go" Jim said.

As the aliens entered the Bomber's hideout, they were shot by Link. "Good shot. You've really got it" Jim said. Over the next forty-five minutes, they were able to shoot the aliens. "Fifteen minutes, we're nearly there" Link said, checking it's watch. "I just hope the guys at the rear have been able to hold them off" But just as he said that, The aliens stormed them and took Romani. "ROMANI!" Both Link and Jim yelled and took off, with every bomber in pursuit, Link shooting each of the aliens, but he didn't shoot enough, and 2 managed to get to the UFO. "Link!" Jim said as Link grabbed Romani around the leg, and got out his Hook-shot as the UFO started beaming them up. This time, however, an alien kicked the Hook-shot out of his hand. The bombers then piled on, with one with Iron Boots on, and another bomber who's hands were between Link and Jim. "Bomber's retrieve Link's Hook-shot" Jim yelled as they were slowly pulled towards the UFO. Even the Bomber who had the Iron Boots on was being slowly dragged towards the UFO's Tractor Beam. The last remaining bomber ran off, fighting his way through the aliens to try and get Link's Hook-shot back. "Come on" Jim said as they were sucked closer to the UFO. "Guys, I think they're going to get us" Romani said, and Link sighed. "I hate to say it, but I think that they've got us". Just as it looked like they were going to be captured, as Romani was starting to see the inside of the UFO, the sun started to peek out, and the UFO immediately dropped them, with the Iron Boots bomber hitting the ground first, with the fourth bomber landing on him, Jim landing on him, Link on him, and Romani on top. The aliens disappeared, and the other bomber returned with Link's hook-shot. "Here you go" he said, and Link said "Thanks".

After everyone had sorted themselves out, Link said to Romani "Your sister's going to be absolutely terrified about you, so we had better get you back" Romani nodded, and Link used Epona's song to call Epona. As he helped Romani mount Epona, he said "Thanks for everything" Romani repeated it, and Jim replied "No problem. Anything to help fill your book" Link then ran Epona towards Romani Ranch,

When Link and Romani arrived at Romani Ranch, they dismounted from Epona, and almost immediately they hear a voice scream "ROMANI!" from nearby. Looking towards the voice, they see Cremia running towards them, She ran up and hugged her little sister, then said "Thank you Link for defending her" Link nodded, then said sombrely "Sorry about the cows" Cremia shook her head and said "I was so worried about Romani, but I am so glad that she is OK" Romani then walked up to Link, and hugged him, which Link returned. "You are so brave" she said. "Thanks" Link replied, before adding "I''ll see you around then?" and Cremia and Romani said "hopefully" Link then climbed onto Epona and left.


End file.
